How dare anyone tell a person of color with thick coily hair to cut it down. You are suggesting that she cut down her self-esteem, her confidence, her blackness, her spirit. -Kadia B.

Givien the title of the blog, it is right to assume I’m in favour of natural hair ANYwhere, ANYtime. I mean, fundamentally–it grows out of our head. Why should it be banished in the White house, an army base, a school picture or at one of the biggest days in a woman’s life–her own wedding. Who wants to show their grandchildren that defining moment with a hairstyle that is influenced by European beauty standards? They have their European beauty standards for a European bride–sleek or romantic or pinned up regal. And yes, those brides look so beautiful on their wedding day. And guess what? We have our beauty, too and it’s all but invisible on one of our most important days because we are afraid to define what African beauty should be.

Wearing your natural hair on your wedding day can be intimidating, but imagine how empowering it is? As a 28 year old in a relationship, I am thinking about wedding bells and I think Solange’s wedding look is so revolutionary and inspiring. I wouldn’t have ever had the damn guts to wear an Afro to my own weddingg before her! But she looks ethereal, magical, simply Divine in her own natural beauty. Is the wedding industry pissed off? They should be. Because we don’t need to, or want to, subscribe to your pin-straight happily ever after. We have our own kinky, coily and completely phenomenal happily ever after–from our gorgeous curls to the shoes that should have been bought Black-owned, y’all.

You guys! Everybody needs to get in on this fall/winter twist challenge. I’m telling you, it will breathe life into your natural coils and curls. I especially recommend it for my sisters with the kinkiest hair, or hair that tends to just stay dry, no matter what oil, cream or prayer you put on it. I honestly HATED my hair in twists at first. I love my bouncy twist-outs and big hair, no lie. But it is worth the abundance of health, wealth and slayage that twists bring by giving your hair a vacay. Sidenote: you can do a lot of dope styles with twists, they don’t just have to be this horrendous protective style. Sidesidenote: I haven’t quite mastered those amazeballs styles as yet. Maybe week 3 will be the week?!

Here’s a few tips to make a twist (or braid) challenge doable. First of all, if you start getting tired of twists…switch up to braids. If you are used to braids, do some twists. Secondly, you can change up the sizes–go mini for a few weeks or do some big, bold and beautiful chunky twists pinned up or side swept with some pretty earrings and a generous dollop of shine-increasing grapeseed oil. Just don’t forget to moisturize, spritz with water and massage that scalp (if you work out…and you SHOULD be working out, you can use tea tree oil or ACV to gently clean the scalp until wash day).

If you are truly serious about natural hair growth, a twist challenge will do the trick. The main reason I recommend it over adding synthetic extensions is because it really expands your self-love and helps you better understand your hair and appreciate the journey–every (sometimes) painful step of it. If you have synthetic hair covering your real, growing hair–you miss really working side by side with your hair. There are the subtle things you miss, there is a lot of intimacy with your hair you miss out on. Trust me when you love your hair at its worst (or what you perceive to be its worst), when it’s ready to undo the twists and rock that SERIOUSSS twist out, you will literally SHINE with pride. And trust me, it’s so worth it. 6 months ladies! Let’s do it!

Natural hair lights up a room. African skin is golden and magnificent, as deep as it is warm. Shades of cinnamon and ochre, not to be ignored. Ostracized. But majestic like mountains, rising like our hair. Regal like an eagle. Soaring above on our ancestor’s wings.

Never feel less than because your hair is different. It’s thirsty. You have thirsty roots. Like a mind thirsty for knowledge. Let it saturate in the oils of nature’s bounty. Do not neglect it in self-hatred, wishing it to be something else. An eagle can never be a tamed chicken, though it has been beaten and trained to cluck. Free it, and it will soar above. Naturally.

Thank goodness there is an endless resource of natural products to use in our beautiful, thick Afro hair. And who knows what waits to be discovered next?

Well, today, I’m here to discuss adding powders as a hair mask. You can make a paste using yogurt, goat or coconut milk, or even plain water (oils like coconut oil work well too). You can make it as thick or as thin as you prefer.

So what powders are beneficial for African hair?

TURMERIC

Turmeric is a cheap powder you can find easily and is a great anti-bacterial, dandruff-fighting powder thanks to its high levels of curcumin. This orangey-yellow powder promotes hair growth by counteracting hair loss. It’s also staining so find a way to protect your vanity while applying it in front of your mirror and wipe any that falls immediately! The results will be worth it.

GINGER

You can use ginger powder in a hair mask! It’s a powerful spice that can promote hair growth, reduce hair loss and makes your hair soft and shiny. Thrown in a tablespoon or two to your regular hair mask for great-smelling action.

TRIPHALA

Triphala powder is a bit more expensive. I found some at the health food store for $7.99 but it smells earthy and lovely, and prevents hair loss. It is also full of nutrients and contains three ingredients: amalaki (amla), haritaki and bibhitaki. Amla is a very nourishing Ayurvedic herb and can be purchased separately. It’s usually a pale green and has a similar aroma to that of Triphala. Amla is known as the “superfood for hair”. It is known to add thickness and shine to hair, and has a high concentration of amino acids and antioxidants including quercetin and gallic acid and contains about 17x more antioxidant power than pomegranate. It’s worth a try! (Side note: I notice amla loosens my curls. Great to try before a Wash ‘n’ Go!)

CINNAMON POWDER

Mixing cinnamon and honey is a well known hair remedy for hair growth as its meant to stimulate the scalp. To make the mask easier to apply, add olive oil.

ALL SPICE POWDER

This is the powder of the Pimento Officinalis tree berries. It is antiseptic and promotes hair growth. All spice will open up your blocked pores in the scalp to help oil get through. Using this before a hot oil treatment is beneficial. Using all spice will also remove bacteria from your scalp and hair. It also smells wonderful with the aroma of cinnamon, cloves and juniper.

BRAHMI POWDER

Another nourishing Ayurvedic hair powder that can be used with other great hair powders like Neem, Amla or Tulsi.

In December, Vibe predicted natural hair would be a big trend in 2017. Which doesn’t really make sense. It’s our hair. That would mean being ourselves may not be as cool or avant-garde in 2018 or 2019? It would be helpful if they delved a little deeper and reported some cool new cuts or styles for natural hair that will be on point in 2017. I’m sure when a magazine talking about white women’s hair discusses new trends they don’t just say “European hair a trend this year!” Our collective hair journeys are not about running from bell bottom jeans to skinny jeans to high waisted jeans. It is about jumping from repression, from the devaluation of Black femininity to shaping our identity as modern Black women and embracing our own roots.

So is natural hair still a trend in 2017? If it is, good, because maybe once more women with Afro hair get on the bandwagon they will realize that they had something beautiful and unique all along–and they can flaunt it 24/7 and 365! Except…maybe on wash day. 😉

Does gulping cod liver oil bring back memories of your childhood, making you cringe as you recall the taste? As our parents used to say as they handed over the spoon of oil, “Be the head and not the tail.” Well, it turns out cod liver oil is also a great thing to have in your winter arsenal for your head in more ways than one. Yes, it improves cognitive function but it also helps give you lustrous, healthy hair and skin! Cod liver oil also nourishes the hair follicles and keeps dry, itchy scalp and dandruff at bay!

Another great vitamin is vitamin C for hair. Don’t just get absorbic acid though–get the full vitamin C by eating foods rich in the vitamin such as papaya, guava, leafy greens, yellow and orange foods, and citrus food. It’s the time of the year to make your curried butternut squash soup and your spicy calaloo. Vitamin C builds collagen which is crucial for hair growth! If you have to eat vitamin C to ward off colds and influenza, just think what all that is doing for your hair, skin and nails!

Drinking red wine is always a thumbs-up in my books, but applying it to your scalp can help reduce hair loss and grow your hair. If you are under the legal drinking age and cannot get a hold of some red wine, you can always use red wine vinegar.

Winter is the time to drink hot beverages such as tea and if you want your hair to look its best, making the most out of your tea is beneficial. Horsetail, burdock rock and stinging nettle are all good ideas for helping hair grow and be healthy. As well as drinking the tea, you can do hair rinses with all three teas. They are easy to find at your local health food stores.

Our natural hair is so beautiful, African hair is just divine! It truly is a crown; as diverse, resilient, ever-changing yet unyielding as our African spirit. It takes patience and love (and a lot of detangling!) to give our crown the opportunity to show us what we are searching for: our African beauty in its pure form, as we finally embrace our kinks and curls.

Embracing my natural hair is easy for me. But it doesn’t always embrace me back. Sometimes I leave the house feeling like my hair is on point, only to come back home with a completely different looking hairstyle. Natural hair, you nah easy. Yet, despite the kinks in figuring out what works and what doesn’t…there is far much more to gain in being humble and learning from what grows out of our head. By giving it time to develop a voice and talk to us, so we can look in the mirror and see the queen within, so we can radiate and melanate our natural, African glow. From head to toe. From the crown to the sole. Our soul. Our past, present and future.

I consider myself a hardcore naturalista. I’d rather a TWA than the best, Hollywood weave. Give me Bantu knots over a relaxer any day. I love seeing natural hair! I love having natural hair. My hair, like many naturalistas, was not always natural. So, this texture is novel, priceless and exalting to behold. That being said, I noticed my hair stopped growing. It was in hair limbo, and my Ghanian friend recommended I protective style with a wig. I said OK.

I cowashed my hair and did a flat twist for the week using Aunt Jackie’s products, and through on the “naturally textured” wig before I headed out on my bike. Except, I couldn’t fit my helmet over the gosh darn wig. I felt like I was walking around with a football helmet on my head. It looked, to me, so ridiculously unnatural. When I took my helmet off, the wig almost went with it so I ducked low pretending to inspect my tires.

The next day, I tried braiding the wig hair so it would look more natural and be less bulky. I swear, it multiplied in width and height. I had twice as much hair. I tried to stop rearranging it on my forehead in public. I was certain it was lopsided. And it was hot. And scratchy. And hot.

When I got home, I threw the wig off and slammed it down on my entryway bench. Free at last! I ran a hand over my hair, my real hair, and felt the breeze that wasn’t making it through my wig-helmet. My hair was silky soft, and enjoying it’s hair vacation. I glanced at the wig. OK, so maybe it was kinda cute.

Every natural hair gal has to get creative in the hair department sometimes. Maybe you ran out of shampoo on Wash Day, or wondered if (insert food ingredient) would be a savvy hair elixir. Well, I too, have found out the hard way that some things work better than others. *Note: I have 3C/4A hair!

1. When you run low on condish.
This happens to me all the time, and I live in a tiny, rural town. I can’t just run out and buy some TGIN. Luckily, I keep an emergency stash of Herbal Essence Hello Hydration on hand, and a can of coconut milk. In the event of a snowstorm or something, these get the job done!

2. It’s Splitsville on my ends.
I hate split ends, who doesn’t? It hijacks any effort to grow Afro hair out. I can lose months of growth to split ends! To keep this under control, I apply coconut oil to my ends at night and wear a silk bonnet. Coconut oil is the best sealant, IMO, for stopping split ends. Once a month I use henna and an egg for a protein treatment, which is also super cheap!

3. Soft hair is sweeeet.
Very sweet, I found out, when I used maple syrup in lieu of honey (melted with olive oil). Molasses is great too, but being a pancake lover, I generally have syrup on hand. It really softens and adds shine to hair…just be sure to wash it out. well with warm water.

4. Clean scalp, look to the trees.
While beginning the process to loc my son’s hair in May, I had to find ways to keep his scalp clean without washing his hair and learned a spray bottle with tea tree oil, ACV and water helped keep his hair smelling and feeling clean until Wash Day, which was generally tea tree oil and ACV with Black Soap Shampoo.

5. Glow from Within (the Pantry)
This is a face tip, not hair. But I thought it was worth sharing. Bronzer is super expensive but there is nothing like the illuminative effects of it on golden, melanated skin. So, when mine finished, I started doing turmeric face masks 3x a week for a natural glow. I just slap some on dampened skin and it really does make your skin illuminate. Also, the powder is slightly abrasive so you get a good exfoliating effect as wel

In this post, I will ask my readers, what is more defiant of the dominant culture? Please let me know what you think. I will give my argument below and let you know which style I feel is the most powerful at resisting Euro-centric beauty ideals, and the best at celebrating Afro-centric beauty.

Natural Hair
Without a doubt, women of African descent wearing our beautifully billowy, voluminous natural hair is a direct hit at resisting European oppression and domination. It was even outlawed in the 1700s starting with the South Carolina’s Negro Act for women of colour to wear their hair naturally in public! (Why you so jealous, SC?). Black hair is beautiful hair, and we have come a long way to accept it, learn to care for it and develop self-love by embracing it. By refusing to wear our hair straightened like European women, it is a revolutionary act and one that has helped to unify thousands, if not millions of African sisthren.

HeadwrapHeadwrapping originating in Sub-Saharan Africa prior to the slave trade was a style that was modest and also telling of one’s social status. However, American slavery has tarnished the splendour of headwrapping by turning it into a badge of shame.

This is why I believe that by continuing to wrap our heads as we have since time immemorial is a powerful tool to dismantle racist beliefs about the devaluation of Afrikan females. Wearing a headwrap is likened to a Queen wearing a crown, and it draws attention upwards and complements the face. Furthermore, with the majestically coloured wraps and quality fabrics we are wrapping our hair with today, in elaborate styles nonetheless, it is a far cry from the piece of common white cloth used in the days of slavery. It moreso connects us with our heritage, history and culture and supplies us with the infinite power that is knowledge of self.

So which is it? Natural hair or headwrap?

Verdict
While our natural hair is incredible and diverse, and should be worn out freely and proudly, in my honest opinion, donning a regal headwrap evokes images of my ancestors in Africa. I feel more Afrikan in a beautifully printed headwrap worn gloriously and unapologetically on my head than I do with my best groomed Afro-puff. It may be the other way for some women and equally for others. So there you have it!